Teen charged with theft of Newark police car after fight

An 18-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly stealing a police car while officers tried to break up a fight this afternoon near Barringer High School in Newark. He is also accused of ramming the vehicle into two parked cars and injuring two students, authorities said.

Newark resident Arturo Reyes, a former Barringer student, was charged with theft of the keys to the vehicle, theft of the vehicle and two counts of aggravated assault. He was also charged with possession of a weapon, identified by police as the automobile, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerArturo Reyes, 18, of Newark, is lead away after being arrested this afternoon.

Police cars block the intersection of First Street and Park Avenue to investigate the scene of an accident involving a stolen Newark police cruiser.

The incident occurred around 3 p.m., when about 100 Barringer High School students gathered at the intersection of Park Avenue and North Fifth Street for a fight, witnesses said. Police did not immediately say what caused the fight.

Witnesses said that as the fight was breaking up, officers took Reyes and another teen into custody. The second teen broke away, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, police said, Reyes got hold of the keys to a police vehicle and drove it for about half-a-block before crashing into two cars parked on the south side of the street, Detective Todd McClendon said in a release.

One of the cars jumped a curb, striking two students who were taken to University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, McClendon said. Witnesses said the victims were a 10th-grade girl and an 11th-grade boy.